Best Ever Crunchy Roast Potatoes Recipe

You will most certainly need to save this crunchy roast potatoes recipe for your next big roast.

Do you ever sit down to a roast dinner that you’ve made and you realise that your roast potatoes aren’t that crunchy? Isn’t it the WORST?

My crunchy roast potatoes recipe is my closely-guarded secret. I’m willing to bare all for you because I like you and I think you’ll use it with great trepidation because you will never stop making these for the rest of your life. You will be known as “the maker of excellent roast potatoes” and you will need to be on hand for all Sunday roasts, Christmas’, Thanksgivings… etc. Continue if you accept this as your new identity in life. Yes? Okay good.

I use this method every Sunday, and I’ll certainly be using this for Christmas this year. They always turn out incredibly crispy and brown, perfect for mopping up gravy.

As I mentioned in my roast chicken recipe, Sunday roasts are a British institution. We have perfected the art of the roast potato for centuries! If you’re looking for the perfect roast potatoes for your Sunday roast or Christmas dinner, look no further.

There are a few things to consider when making your roasts. Make sure your potatoes are slightly floury – Maris Pipers are the most common white potatoes and are a good all-rounder. King Edwards are by far the best to use, just bring them to a very brief boil and drain because they’ll go mushy. Desirees are great to use too. Then there’s the oil. Make sure the oil is very hot before tumbling the potatoes in. Rapeseed oil is the best because it can get incredibly hot without smoking. Avoid putting herbs and garlic in at the beginning as they’ll burn.

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat an oven to maximum and place a shallow roasting tin with the oil on the bottom shelf (usually underneath your main roast which will go on the center shelf) to get piping hot.

Rinse the peeled potatoes in water to drain off the excess starch and boil the potatoes in a pan of salted water until they come to a boil for 2-3 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and let the steam evaporate off. Getting as much water off the potatoes will increase the likelihood of them crunching up.

Dust a tablespoon of plain flour and a teaspoon of salt over the potatoes, and jumble them about in the colander, fluffing them up as well in the process. Make sure you top before they fall to bits. You can skip this step with King Edwards and they'll disintegrate.

Take the tin out and very carefully tumble the potatoes in the hot fat, cut flat side down so it looks like a landscape of golden hills, and give them a quick baste with a spoon.

Roast at 200 degrees Celsius (390 degrees Fahrenheit) for half an hour. Then turn them down to 180 (356), turn them so the cut side is facing up, and add in the garlic and herbs for an hour with the roast. It's a good idea to get these in the oven just as you get your joint in the oven to brown off, and then cook with the roast.

The big secret here is time. Give your potatoes lots of time in the oven to get brown. If you need to take the meat out and the roasts are still pale, turn the oven back up to 200 and give them another 15 minutes.

I promise you crunchy roasts every time. Just be patient!

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